Torture of Sorts
by brooke.emily41319
Summary: Based on the episode 'Cops and Robbers' 4x07, but with an unsuspected twist! Caskett. Rated T, but possible some more mature content in following chapters! Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

*Beckett sat at her desk in the precinct, finishing paperwork. Her phone buzzes, showing Castle's face on the caller ID*  
"What do you want Castle?"  
"Tell me you need me"  
"Excuse me?"  
"I'm in the bank cashing this cheque for Alexis; things are just taking a little longer than expected. Please tell me there's a murder somewhere we could be solving?"  
"No, I'm really sorry that no one has died today Castle, sorry to inconvenience you. I was just doing paperwork, I have literally just finished."  
Castle glances around the bank, trying not to stare at the legs of a 20 something woman stood in the line a few places back, behind a rather plump nurse, lazily leaning on the separation barrier. Castle grinned to himself as he realised the nurse was Hispanic, and could quite easily have been Esposito's older, but definitely chubbier, cousin. The door swung open, and a man, avoiding eye contact with anybody, bowing his head away from any potential cameras came over the threshold.  
"I think this bank's about to be robbed."  
"Oh come on Castle, are you really that bored? I think your writers imagination is playing with you.."  
"Ooh, look you should be here. A man has just walked through the door with a… very suspicious bulge under his, err, scrubs actually? Hmm, strange.."  
"Castle, are you playing with me?"

Suddenly, the man pulled a surgical mask on, and forced a bent pipe through the handles on the glass double doors, barricading them tightly shut. Whipping out his MP5 fully automatic machine gun, he yelled  
"EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR NOW!" followed by a peppering of bullets sprayed at the ceiling to show his intentions. A chorus of screaming and shouting ripped through the air as everyone dove to the floor, complying to the terrifying man's demands. Hearing all this through the phone, Beckett turned white, her eyes wide with shock. Pressing her shoulder up to her ear to keep her cell phone in place, she called out to Castle, all the time punching the 1030 code into dispatch alerting them of the situation.

"CASTLE? Where are you?"  
"I'm at the New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex." Beckett gave dispatch the new information.  
"Castle listen to me. How many are there?" He peeped around from the desk behind which he was hiding. He saw 3 medically dressed people, each wielding a high calibre weapon, pointing them at the cowering hostages, who were now faced down on the ground, fingers interlocked behind their heads.  
"Erm, three.." Then, he heard the familiar click of a semi-automatic Glock right behind his head. "Okay, better make that four" he only just managed to get out before his phone was whipped out of his hand by another masked subject.  
"I'm sorry your boyfriend can't talk right now," Dr. Collins spat down the end of the phone.  
"I wouldn't worry about him, I'd worry about yourself. We've got squad cars on their way."  
An instant fear flickered over the man's face, calm overriding milliseconds later. The gun in his sweating hand reminded him that he was in control. He tightened his grip slightly before replying.  
"You a cop?! You called a cop?" he says in annoyance to Castle. This was not part of the plan!  
"Er, well – we were already on the line when you came and spoiled this supposedly innocent trip out!" retorted Castle, worried not only for his own safety, but how this would affect Alexis, his mother… and Kate. Things had been a little different since…  
"Listen to me!" Beckett's sweet, mechanised voice sprang out of the phone, jolting his mind back to reality. The robber put the phone back to his ear, and continued to listen to the cop's voice.  
"So far, nobody has been hurt and nothing stolen. So, if you just leave the same way you came in, you can just disappear." The man pondered this thought for a moment.  
"You promise you aren't going to look for me?"  
"I don't look. I hunt." Both anger and worry mixed into her voice. She pushed her emotions aside, trying to remain professional. "And trust me, you don't want that. So leave now and this will just be a quirky little article in the Metro section."  
"Sorry sweetheart, but I'd rather make the front page." He snapped back as he hung up the phone, on hearing the sirens signalling the cops' arrival. Looking back at Castle, he pistol whipped him with the butt of the gun, leaving a stinging red mark in its wake. Several women let out a yelp, in fear of this happening to them. Castle lay on the floor; his swelling red cheek collided with the icy tiles, causing the flesh to sear at the drastic change.

"Sir!" Beckett stormed into the Hostage Rescue emergency post, looking for Captain Taylor, head of Hostage Negotiation. "I was on the phone with one of the suspects when this whole thing started and-"  
"Whoa, what the hell are you doing?"  
"I was on the phone with my partner before it started."  
"Your partner? Have we got a cop in there?"  
"Er, no he's a civilian investigator, who assists on cases. We were on the phone when this all started. He says there are 4 suspects, 3 with fully automatic weapons, as handguns. They are dressed in surgical scrubs."  
"Thanks for the intel, anything else you can tell me?"  
"Yeah, the suspect seemed… calm, actually." Beckett replied, only just noticing how odd it was that he seemed so in control. She couldn't work out if this was in their favour or not. "Ok, so what's our next move?" she added.  
"Well, your next move is to get the hell outta my operations van!" scoffed Capt. Taylor. "You work homicide, if anyone ends up dead I'll give you the case, but for now, they hostages are still alive, and I need you to back off so I have half a chance of keeping it that way. I promise we'll do everything within our power to get your partner out safe." Trusting him that he would do his job, Beckett left, and heard him directing his team to set up a communication line into the bank. She breathed out slowly and deeply, putting her head in her hands and brushing roughly through her hair as she leaned against the barricade. The world was blurring, all she could think of was Castle. It took Captain Taylor three times shouting her name to get her attention, and bring her back to the present.  
"Detective Beckett, what the hell were you thinking?" shouted the Captain, holding up the headset in despair.  
"I was only trying to help, Sir!"  
"What, by charming the bank robber?"  
"What?!" retorted Beckett, utterly confused.  
"We get him on the horn, but before I get two words out, he says, and I quote, "I will only talk to the lady cop, the one with the bedroom voice." Yeah. You wanted in? well, you're in."  
"Oh, no Sir, I don't have any training in hostage negotiation."  
"Well I don't have time to give you a seminar about it, just basically go against everything you learnt for homicide, okay? So don't bully, or wind them up. Be calm, build rapport, no threats. It's all about keeping them calm. And keep 'em talking, because when they are talking, they're not busy killing hostages," explained Captain Taylor, evidently not keen on the fact Beckett was going to be doing the talking, but had to let her because she was their only choice. Clipping the hands-free headset over her smooth brown curls hanging loosely in tousled pieces on her shoulders, she heard the familiar husky voice of the perp crackling down the end of the line.  
"This is Detective Kate Beckett. I understand that you wanted to speak with me. Anything I can do to help?" Beckett said into the receiver; Capt. Taylor had another line and was watching her closely with a piercing stare that bore into her from behind, hanging on her every word.  
"Oh Kate, Kate, Kate. You're really running that idiot's playbook, aren't you? I don't like that guy"  
"Yeah, me neither," the words rolled off her tongue before she could even decide if it was right. But she liked the small hint of a snigger that she got from the man at the end of the line.  
"What did Captain _ tell you? Build rapport. Exact information. You lie to me, you jerk me around, if you storm the bank I swear I will kill hostages. And Kate… I'll start with your boyfriend." A click, followed by a droning dial tone signalled the end of the conversation. She thought about what he had just said, mulling his words over in her mind.

'_Kill hostages' _

'_I'll start with your boyfriend'_

'_Your boyfriend' _

…"He knows what he's doing. He knows our playbook. This guy's a pro." Captain Taylor addressed all present. "ESU can't get eyes or ears inside. Bank cameras are disabled and the walls are too thick to drill from the outside. So basically, we're screwed."

Castle shifted his weight to bring back some of the feeling to his butt. He looked at his watch and saw that they had been sat on the floor like this for approximately 20 minutes since the heist began. Standing up with his hands in the air, he turned to face the barrel of an AK-47 being pointed at him by none other than the plump nurse from the queue before.  
"Have you got a death wish?" Nurse Price yelled at him from behind her mouth shield.  
"Nope just a small bladder. And it seems as though you guys are pretty serious about this whole heist and hostage thing, so I suggest you start to organise some toilet trips if you don't want things to get messy.." Castle retorted. They stared at each other for a few seconds more, before she loosened her grip on the trigger cage and lowered her weapon. She gestured for Castle to follow her, and pointed her gun at the remaining hostages as a warning, whilst her team mate covered her. She led Castle through a labyrinth of winding, dimly lit passage ways to the staff toilets buried in the depths of the bank. As they journeyed through one corridor, Castle could see that one of the doors was flung wide open, and the barred metal grills were slid apart. Another masked man in scrubs had both keys of a safety deposit box and was opening it, removing not only jewelled artefacts, which he tossed on the table in a nonchalant fashion, as he delved deeper into the small metal tin, this time removing a brown envelope containing...  
"MOVE!" cried his captor, shoving the barrel of the gun into the middle of Castle's back, causing him to yelp as he was caught off guard, stumbling forwards due to the sudden impact. Regaining his balance, he glanced back to the room of safety deposit boxes and cursed once he realised he couldn't see what was in that package. Only white plastic cubes that resembled pats of butter, amongst an array of multicoloured wires which ended somewhere in the middle of the blocks. His heart rate increased and his eyes grew wide when he realised that it was most probably a bomb, and then dragged his eyes away as they continued their trip to the bathroom.

~~~~~~  
*Half an hour later*

... -.. -… ….- -… ... -.. -… ….- -… ... -.. -… ….- -…

"Sir, what is that?" Members of the SWAT team began to look up at the white flickering light on the porch ceiling overlooking the grand entrance of New Amsterdam Bank and Trust's shining double doors. "It's Morse Code, Sir," added the same man, coming to a sudden realisation as to what the flashing lights were.  
"That's Castle" Beckett piped up, relief flooding through her as she realises Castle is alive.  
"How do you know?" Captain Taylor quizzed her, wondering how she would know such an important detail.  
"I just do." Captain Taylor mused at her, but trusting her judgement anyway. "It says S.. D.. B.. 47, over and over again." Beckett squinted at the wall. "For Castle to send that, it must be important. I wonder what it means."  
"SDB 47, I don't know, err.."  
"It could be someone's initials, or a code. Same.. Day.. Bank..? No, Safe.. Safe.. Deposit.. SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX!" Beckett yelled. "ESPO, RYAN, are you there?" Beckett spoke into her phone.  
"Yo, yeah Beckett we're here" replied Esposito.  
"Good, now listen. I need you to check something for me. I need the names of the owners of a Safety Deposit Box in New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex.. number 47." The swift tapping of keys indicated they had followed her orders immediately, their pace naturally quickened knowing one of their good friends and co workers was potentially in danger.  
"Okay.. Beckett, it says here that the owners died a week ago… and it hasn't belonged to anyone new since then," Ryan read the information off his computer screen to update Beckett and Captain Taylor. "The ME's report stated that there were ligature marks on their necks, indicating strangulation, and the place was trashed, which means-"  
"They were looking for something," Beckett said finishing his sentence as they would in a normal case in the Precinct.

Castle looked around at the other hostages as he returned to his seat on the floor. After a few more minutes of strained silence, a woman near the back cried out in pain. As soon as the sound escaped her, she attempted to muffle the sound as she winced. She clutched at her stomach, and that was when Castle realised that she was pregnant. He had not noticed in the midst of the chaos prior to this, and her swollen stomach was partially concealed as she was sat cross legged on the floor. She cried out again, and a woman near her moved to put a comforting hand on her arm. The women sat in hushed conversation, and both had a sudden look of dread in their eyes as they came to the conclusion that she was probably going into labour.  
"Excuse me, Doctor?" the supporting woman, Marie, timidly cut the tension in the room. Castle looked on with interest and worry; what was happening?  
"What?" replied a gruff voice from behind a mask. "What is it, what is wrong with her?"  
"She is going into labour," Marie said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Several people stole looks of anxiety and sympathy, no one wanting to directly stare at the poor woman in labour.  
"We need to get her out of here, unless you really are medics, I think it is in your best interest to let her go," Castle chipped in, knowing that it would make the situation even worse for all in the room. Deciding to get the woman out of the bank, as she would only mess up their ultimate plan, Dr Collins picked up the phone and waited for someone to answer.  
"Hello there Detective Beckett."  
"Hello Dr Collins. What is the problem?"  
"One of our hostages has decided to go to into labour, which is starting to cause distress amongst the other hostages. Also, I really am not keen on witnessing that, for it is not even half ten in the morning yet, and I rather wanted to keep my breakfast down. So, on that note, I will let you send in a paramedic, to help her out, and you are also going to have a bus ready for me in 20. That seems fair to me." And the dial tone filled Beckett's ear before she had a chance to protest.  
"Sir, we can use this to our advantage. Instead of sending in a paramedic, we send in a cop with tactical training. That way, they can gain intel for when SWAT finally makes their move, and all hopefully without being made."  
"And do you have someone in mind?" Taylor asked her, once again impressed by her snap decision making skills.  
"Me. Send me in. I can do this." Beckett asserted. Realising she was once again the best chance they had, he gave her a single lift and fall of his head, nodding in agreement.

Castle looked up as the doors opened to allow a medic in, pushing a gurney in front of her. Her? After doing a double take, Castle realised it was Kate, in her paramedic's uniform, a light grey stethoscope draped around her neck, swaying slightly as she walked. Her eyes were focused. Her hair was clipped up off her face, in a tight mess of plaited knots, each one tangled into another, individual strands fighting free in flyaway wisps. The chestnut brown tones tossed light and dark shadows with every step, trapping and releasing the sunlight at will. She did look damn good in a uniform.

'NOT THE TIME, RICK' he thought to himself, realising he could not give her away.

He looked on jealously as Dr Collins strode over to her, and ordered her to spread her arms and legs, as he patted her down, taking far longer than necessary. His hands lingered over her well shaped thighs, and she gritted her teeth in response. Clearing her, she ran over to the panting Beth, as she struggled with her intensifying contractions. In order to maintain her cover, Beckett gave her a brief look over, before asking politely for other hostages to help. Maria held Beth's hand, and Castle rushed over to help the moment she asked, to smell her sweet perfume was only an added bonus. Realisation swept over Dr Collins, piecing the situation together. Beckett turned away, and as she did, her earpiece pinged from her ear, putting the final clue in place. Before she took another step, he thrust the butt of his 25 pound weapon into the base of her skull. She crashed to the floor, her head bouncing once, twice, as it collided with the stone, releasing an overwhelming crash. Her mouth lay a jar. Blood leaked from its corner, pooling on the floor, meeting a slow drip running down her neck from the gaping gash on her head.

"KATE!" Castle yelled out. Every pair of eyes in the room was now fixed firmly on him, each brimming with a spectrum of emotions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_KATE!" Castle yelled out. Every pair of eyes in the room was now fixed firmly on him, each brimming with a spectrum of emotions._

'But no. Oh my god Kate. Her head was bleeding. They didn't just do that?' Castle thought as every weapon in the room was now directly pointing at him. It took every ounce of strength he could muster in order to not rush to her side, and hold her in his arms, willing her back to life.

"Beckett, Beckett, do you copy?" Technical Assistance spoke into the mic trying to get some response from their only contact.

"What the hell's going on? Where's Beckett?" Esposito yelled as he and Ryan burst into the operations room.

"We lost contact. We have no idea what is going on. Either they found her bugged, and destroyed them, or…" Captain Taylor said, the worry evident in his shaking voice.

"Or what?!" Ryan replied. "Oh god.."

Beckett blinked her eyes open slowly, trying to see past the black spots and blinding light as the daytime pierced her face. She felt the cold of the floor against her cheek, and as she tried to readjust her position, the back of her neck screamed in resistance as the muscles moved against the tender bruised bones of her vertebrae. A cool trickle of blood leaked from her wound. Out of the corner of her eye, Beckett saw Dr Collins roughly grab Castle round the throat and slam him up against the wall of a private room, traces of skin, hair and blood lay trapped against the cracks in the glass. Wincing against the pain, and gasping for air, Castle looked down into the angry eyes of the fuming man, whose fingers were pressing deep welts into his neck.

"Who are you? How do you know her?" Dr Collins shouted at Castle. He narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head to inspect Castle's ever reddening face.

"I.. er.. can't.. brea-" Castle managed to get out. Dr Collins squeezed and dug his nails into Castle's flesh, before throwing him to the floor as he released his grip. Castle panted for a few seconds, before standing up and facing the onslaught once again.

"I am… just a guy.. A writer, actually. Of crime novels, how ironic." Castle said, his humour not failing him for a moment even after the breath had been knocked from his body. "Oh!" yelped Castle, as calloused hands grabbed the back of his neck and held one of his hands behind his back in a vice like grip. Dr Collins steered him to the still, vulnerable body of Kate Beckett. His muse. His friend. His partner..

"LOOK AT HER. Who is she? Why do you know her name?" Dr Collins spat, as he bent Castle's spine, forcing his head to face the bloodied mess that was Beckett. He hated to see her gorgeous face lying in a small puddle collecting at her cheek, just touching her nose, seeping gently from her mouth. A black angry bruise was visible beneath the bloodstains. Castle's eyes pricked with tears.

"I.. er.. she is.." Castle stuttered, trying to think straight, knowing he could not give up Beckett's identity.

"No.." A small whimper caused them all to look round. Kate tried to say something, but every drop of energy was being spent on the strain of her injury, her body falling fast into survival mode. Castle locked his eyes onto her.

"Who. Is. She." Dr Collins repeated in frustration.

Castle blatantly looked him in the eye. "I am not going to tell you," he said.

"That's it." Dr Collins voice raised in anger, and he released Castle from his overpowering grip, for the second time that morning. Swinging his gun back over his shoulder, he proceeded to kick Castle to the floor, and then grabbed Beckett under the armpits, pulling her to her feet. Still not alert from her unconscious stupor, he and another perp dragged her away from the hostages. Castle attempted to jump up and help her, but he was knocked out momentarily from another blow to the head. It didn't take much, because of his previous head injury, and weakened state from the strangulation.

10 seconds later, he came round, and began to rise from the floor, but several machine guns pointed directly at him caused him to reconsider.

"What is going on, what the hell happened to Beckett?" Ryan said to Esposito as they sat in a corner of the operations post.

"I don't know, but I don't know what all these guys are doing! You can't just stand around and watch, the pregnant chick came out on the gurney ages ago, probably got her baby in Trinity General Hospital right now! So why hasn't Beckett come out too?" Esposito replied, wondering what on earth was happening in the depths of the bank right now.

"Maybe we should try to stop worrying about Castle and Beckett, and try to find out what is happening with that safety deposit box – like Beckett said, if it was important for Castle to send out using Morse Code then it's got to be the key!" Ryan exclaimed, running to pull his laptop out of the kit bag and plugging in his external hard drive to access files as they would at the Precinct. He wasted no time into pulling up the backgrounds of the couple who had previously owned the box, and scrolled through their case file.

"Ok, so we know that they were strangled, but their place was tossed. So what were they looking for? It's the only legitimate reason as to why they would toss it, everything in the CSU report indicates that it was not a straight up home invasion," said Esposito. "Shall we go check this place out?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. These guys are good, Captain Taylor can handle the hostage situation," replied Ryan, and with that they packed up their gear and got in their car, and drove across town to the apartment of the deceased couple.

Beckett blinked as bright lights popped her eyes. She turned away, taking a few more moments for her vision to clear. A man leaned against the wall in front of her, studying her movements.

"Kate.. I'm guessing." She turned her head at the sound of her name, and her vision cleared. Her cheek was itchy; her neck throbbed and it took almost all her strength to keep her head up. Then she noticed that she was bound. Panic whooshed through her. She flexed her fingers and strained against the plasti-cuffs holding her hands and feet tightly against the arms and legs of the chair. She tried several more attempts to free herself, but it was in vain, so she stopped as it was only causing more unnecessary abrasions to her skin.

"Don't struggle. It really won't work." He walked behind her, and back around again, jumper cables swinging from his hand. Occasionally he pressed down on the clip, and then released it so it snapped shut with a metallic ping.

"What do you want from me?" she quizzed him. It scared her that she did not know who this guy was, or what he wanted with her. Of course, it could be revenge from a case she had closed, from an enraged friend or family member, but how would they know who she was?

"I've been studying you. Not that you would know it of course," he said, with a sneering smile. He placed his hands on the back of the chair behind her, and leant down so he was only mere inches away from her face. His next words escaped him in barely a whisper.

"I know who you are."

She recoiled from the odour of his angry breath, trying not to give him the satisfaction that he was getting to her. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he did so, before pulling back and looking her in the eye with an unnerving stare. Still looking at her, he walked backwards towards the door, swinging the tangle of jumper cables over his shoulder, before slamming the door shut.

Castle was in more emotional pain than physical. He kept wondering what had happened to Beckett. They had been gone for a while now, and despite his best efforts, he could not hear a thing. Footsteps echoing off the marble surfaces of the plush interior of the lobby brought him back to the present. Hands still behind his head, and kneeling on the floor, he turned slightly to see Dr Collins walking into the room, jumper cables over his shoulder. A sly look with deep intentions was written across his face. He approached one of the other guys.

"Where is that defib she came in with?" he spoke in an audible whisper, eyes flicking over to Castle as he spoke. Castle tensed up, a million thoughts raced through his head, bouncing around his skull.

'_Was she dead? Defibrillators were used to restart the heart after a cardiac arrest. She could be lying on the floor, or slumped up against a wall, fighting for her life, and he could never hold her. Never tell her how he felt.' _

Dr Collins walked in the direction that the masked man showed him, and picked up the defibrillator, and began to walk away again. He disappeared into the back room.

'_It's not about the books anymore.'_

Kate heard his boots clunking over the tiles as he approached; the irregularity of his footsteps told her he was carrying something.

He came through the door, jumper cables still over his shoulder and the defibrillator in his left hand. He set it down a metre or so from her feet. He pulled out a knife, and walked back over to the chair. He slid it up her sleeve, and pulled upwards, giving him access to her arm. He continued well past her elbow up to the FDNY badge emblazoned on her sleeve. Putting the blade back into the hilt, he replaced it in his pocket, and tugged the fabric apart to finish the job. The midnight blue material fell from her body.

"Now, this is how it's going to work. I am going to ask you a question," he said, clipping the jumper cables onto the defib panels. "Then you are going to answer it. Truthfully. If not, I shall know."

He switched on the machine, and put the voltage up to 120V.

"And then, I will add a little… persuasion, let's say."

The green light beeped. The static was charged. And with that, he brought the metal down on her arm. Current flooded through her as it sped to earth. Each nerve it passed over was set on fire. Kate yelled out in pain, before spasms took over her body and shook it, leaving her clenched and speechless.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Kate yelled out in pain, before spasms took over her body and shook it, leaving her clenched and speechless._

Castle looked around in terror, as he heard Kate's scream pierce the air. He turned to face his captors, asking them why she was screaming. They just looked at him, and pushed him back down. He was so scared, what he wouldn't give to trade places with her right now.

Kate shuddered as her breathing began to return to normal. Chest still heaving, she looked around at Dr Collins, in anger and frustration. Pain had wracked her body, but she was strong.

"Do you know who I am?"

She shook her head.

"Well you will be in for quite a shock then. We are much closer than you think," he said, circling around her, clicking his tongue.

Beckett glared at him. She racked her brains as she tried to think of who he could be, or how he could know her. She closed her eyes and tried to remember his face. Something, anything would be brilliant right now.

"I knew someone very dear to you. I think.. yes. What was her name though?" he paced around, mocking her with his sarcasm.

"Maybe Joan. Or Josephine. Joanne? Hmm.."

Kate could feel the anger rising inside her.

"Ohh, Johanna! That was it! Yes, I remember now." He looked at her, enjoying the pained expression on her face as he brought back memories of her mother. "You know, my dear Kate, even _we _spent time together as children."

She stared at him, and in that fleeting moment she saw a small child running through the apartment, her mother's laugh, the patter of her own feet trying to keep up with his much bigger ones as they played.

"Do you remember me now?" he asked her. She didn't reply, on looked at him.

He quickly touched the red raw patch of skin on her upper arm, causing her to cry out in pain under the burning sensation of electricity pulsing through her body.

"Oh Kate, I said you were to answer me! I told you what would happen if you did not.." He walked back around behind her, and leaned on the back of the chair.

"Now your mother. Lovely lady she was, such a shame when she died."

"My mother was murdered. In cold blood. Someone took her life, she did not choose it, nor was it natural." Beckett spat the words out in anger and frustration.

Silence lasted between them for several seconds. She waited in anticipation to see his next move. And with that, he pressed the white hot metal against the same patch of skin, and laughed as she convulsed and writhed within the bounds of her restraint.

"But that's not what I want," he continued, when her cries had subsided. He turned to face her, clearly enjoying the both mental and physical pain which he was inflicting. "You are part of line, a line which goes back a very long way. You have been… selected. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps not. There's a place, maybe we could go there some time?"

"Huh, in your dreams," she replied, and he looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"I came here today, on a mission I suppose. It was only my luck when it was you the 'EMT' who came through that door. I knew you were a cop, but I didn't think you would be doing hostage rescue, not your style. You were always the hands on type if I remember correctly."

"Why are you here? Why are you going through that particular safety deposit box?" she asked him, pressing him for more information. What did he want?

"There was something in there I hoped I could find."

"But why the hostages? Why not let them go?"

"Oh Kate, I'm sure you can understand that? Leverage. If I had let them all go then the SWAT teams would have me kissing the floor within 10 seconds of their release; I would never be able to accomplish my task. No, that would be stupid. What do you take me for?" he replied, talking in a mocking voice, and shaking his head as though he were scolding a naughty child.

"What were you looking for?"

"Something precious, something very valuable to me," he gave her barely enough information to keep her satisfied.

"Oh come on, you may as well tell me, because I am not going to tell you anything you want to hear if I don't know what you are on about!" Kate exclaimed as her annoyance reached an all time high. Even though she was well trained in interrogation techniques, he was a challenging match for her, and she was not normally being tortured at the same time.

"Ok, Gates, we went to the apartment where the people who owned the safety deposit box lived. There wasn't much, but we did find a couple of interesting photos mixed in with some old holiday snaps," Esposito explained to Gates after he got back to the precinct with Ryan.

"What do you mean by interesting?" Gates asked them.

"Well, there were a couple of photos of a young girl between the ages of about 6 and 20. She had hazel green eyes, and pale skin with luscious brown hair with a slight wave. She is very pretty, even as a child," Ryan described the girl in the photo, only to realise how familiar she looked. He couldn't figure out if or from where he knew her though.

"Oh I see. This person has got pictures of her from each stage of her life. That suggests that they know her very well, or at least she is very important to them," Gates added, placing the photos down on Beckett's desk, behind where she had been leaning when talking to Esposito and Ryan.

"Awh, I love this photo of her, her hair looked so amazing even back then!" Laine's voice suddenly appeared in the background as she approached the group from behind. She reached over and picked up the top photo off the pile.

"What?!" Gates cried.

"You know her?" said Ryan.

"Laine, who is she?" Esposito yelled, as the three of them looked at her, totally flabbergasted. Laine recoiled slightly, apparently shocked by the sudden assault of questions that had just been hurled at her.

"Woah, yes I know her, of course I do! We all know her, its Kate!"Laine replied, with a shadow of a laugh. "Why, where did you get this? I know for a fact that there is only one copy of this photo, and Beckett keeps it in her safe; it's practically one of her most prized possessions!"

The four of them looked down at the dusty paper sporting a grainy and faded image. A young cop was smiling out at them, the peaked cap of her uniform pinned the majority of her long wavy hair to her head, but the ends flowed free, curling away from her face and touching her shoulders as they struggled against the evident wind. Her gun glinted in the holster on her hip, next to her shiny new Detective's badge. It must have been when she was made Detective, the youngest woman to do so in the NYPD.

A pinging noise from Ryan's computer pulled their attention away from the photo and down to the screen, as it showed…

"It's a very beautiful thing," Doctor Collins spoke whilst looking up to the ceiling, as if he were admiring the beauty of the sky.

"What is?" Beckett replied through gritted teeth. The muscles of her jaw were still clenched as a result of the shocks.

"Oh, this and that. Nature. I like nature. There are so many stunning things out there. You just have to look to appreciate them. Like butterflies for instance."

Beckett glared at him as he continued to ramble on. His words became a jumbled blurr, as she was having trouble focusing on anything whilst another burning sensation ripped over her skin once more. This was totally unexpected. The electrified metal only further aggravated the same spot of her arm, and this time drew blood. The entire area was red and throbbing, but the current had slit her skin more than just an abrasion. Beads of blood seeped through, only making the shock course in her veins as the wetness made it easier for the electricity to conduct. She could not get it out. Each of her muscles individually spasmed creating a cramping pain as well as intense burning.

As quick as it started, it stopped.

"There you are, I was beginning to think you were getting bored with me! Thought I saw you slipping away there, but I got you back," he said, giving her a leering yet sarcastic smile.

"What. Do. You. Want.?" Beckett said as heavy and irregular breaths wracked through her chest.

"I want IT." He yelled the last word in her face, only to receive a blank look from Beckett. "THE BLUE BUTTERFLY PENDANT!"

Kate was now in a delirious state of shock and confusion, and she genuinely had no idea as to what he was talking about. Before she could protest, the familiar burning and jolting took over her senses once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the late update, we have been a little hung up with the Castle spoilers, Cote de Pablo leaving, and Emmy news, amongst other things. Hopefully won't happen again, we will try our best not to.**

**DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN CASTLE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS, IF WE DID CASKETT WOULD HAVE BEEN CANON FROM EPISODE 1 AND THEY WOULD LIVE IN A BIG HOUSE WITH 3 KIDS AND A DOG, OK? **

**Chapter 4**

_Kate was now in a delirious state of shock and confusion, and she genuinely had no idea as to what he was talking about. Before she could protest, the familiar burning and jolting took over her senses once more._

"Ok, I'm going to run her name and see what pops," Esposito said, as he began to tap away at his keyboard. "I'll cross reference her with Beckett, hopefully should get something."

They waited a few moments and another ping followed by a new window flickering to life on the screen, sporting information about Beckett and the mystery lady. Esposito went to open it, but red lights flashed the words 'COURT SEALED' every time he clicked.

"Damn it, we need a court order!" Ryan exclaimed, annoyed that there was another obstacle in their way when 2 of their own were already in grave danger. Gates however, was already on the phone and had got a judge to subpoena the records. He typed in the code, and new information appeared on the screen.

"Ok, it says here that Beckett's mother, Johanna had a cousin. Her name is Carol Boulton, and she is our DOA," Esposito read out as he scrolled down. "Grew up in New York, had 2 kids, 1 deceased now unfortunately, the other lives in state, married once and divorced, inherited an old bit of an estate from her father.. not much else."

"What's that?" Laine asked as she pointed to a corner of a picture hiding behind the open tab. Esposito complied and clicked on it, revealing an image of a gorgeous ornate blue enamel butterfly shaped pendant, encrusted with what they only could guess to be sapphires and diamonds. It was beautifully crafted; the glassy enamel streaked and pearled, mixing hues of blue and silver in a variety of tones. The individually set stone scattered what natural light there was, creating a look as though the jewellery piece was glowing.

Beckett slowly closed her eyes and tried to regulate her erratic breathing, following her last shock.

"What do you want with that pendant? I don't even know what it's about!"

"Oh Kate, I just told you! Didn't you hear my description? I always considered myself a writer." At the word 'writer' Beckett shut her eyes, blinking back tears. The room she was in was not completely soundproof, and her torture had caused her to scream, loudly too, and she knew he would be able to hear. He had become so protective recently, he wasn't quite the same now.. It hurt her more than the torture itself to know that he could hear it all, and feel so helpless.

"It was supposed to be mine! But no.. it's yours, you're welcome," Dr Collins spat in disgust.

"I don't know anything about it! I don't know where it is or why it's mine, if you say it is! How did I get it? Why have I got it?" Beckett replied. If he was lying, then he was very good, if not then what is this blue butterfly thing got to do with anything. He wouldn't lie though, would he? Not if he wanted something.

"We never had much money growing up. Not like you, with the lawyer mother, who was never strapped for cash. Ok, you weren't rolling in it, but still, you had money. I, on the other hand, did not. I lived in a tiny apartment in the Bronx, which I would never have got out of if it wasn't for my mother's love for yours. They were only cousins, I don't know why they were even close, from what I remember, your mother was a meddling idiot who bit off more than she could chew. But then, my grandfather died and left a bit of an estate to my mother, and also the Blue Butterfly. It's a very important thing Kate, worth a LOT of money. But in her will, my dear old mummy left it to you," he said mockingly, to show her she wasn't worth it.

"But why have you kept me here? I obviously know nothing, and I didn't ask for anything. Just let the people in the other room go. They don't deserve this. It has nothing to do with them," Kate said, trying to think straight even though her brain was a cloud of bright light and fog. She had trouble remaining conscious, every ounce of energy was put into regulating her breathing, and trying to read between the lines of Dr Collins words.

As she blinked back the tears, her eyeballs drew back into her skull as the metallic electricity pulsed through her body, sending her muscles into spasms, turning her world black. As quick as it started, it stopped. Head swimming, she could hear Dr Collins words through the haze, sounding as though he was speaking from the end of a cave, even though he was only mere inches away from her writhing body.

He snapped is fingers, pulling her back from her stupor.

"That was for asking for the hostages to be released. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No. I think you're clever. If you were stupid, then I would have you in cuffs by now wouldn't I? But then, you should know that you only have 2 ways of leaving this bank. In cuffs or a bodybag."

"Oh I very much doubt that. You were left that pendant. You are going to get me that Blue Butterfly one way or another," he sneered a cocky smile.

Esposito and Ryan sat in the break room sipping their coffee, trying to manufacture a plan to help hostage rescue.

"Ok, so we need to find a way in, without harming the hostages. Castle and Beckett are both in there, so they can probably help in some way," said Ryan, totally oblivious to the fact that their friend and only qualified police officer was currently being restrained and being tortured.

"I think we need to get snipers to take out the main threats in the bank overlooking the hostages," said Esposito.

"Well, in that case, we need at least three snipers up there plus a back up, so that all of them can be taken out at once, so that they don't start to kill the hostages. At the same time, we need a SWAT team on the doors, ready to get the hostages out immediately. After that, another 2 teams need to go in and sweep the bank, and detain any other perps as necessary," Ryan replied, as they both grabbed their coats and ran out of the Precinct, to go back down to the bank.

Castle lay faced down on the floor, legs spread, and hands behind his head. He knew a gun was still being pointed at him, even though he was facing the other way. His cheek was stuck to the floor with a pool of tears that had escaped his eyes, even if he forced them shut, when he heard Kate scream.

_How could he let this happen? She was never meant to be anywhere near the bank, if he hadn't come here today, then none of this would have happened. She was too beautiful for this, not that it would matter, her beauty ran deeper than what was visible to the eye. Her hair, her face, her smile.._

Castle was wrenched from his thoughts when the sound of glass shattering, bodies falling, and a huge bang releasing a large amount of dirty smoke and a blinding flash of light overpowered the room. His head was filled with the hostage's screams, and the sound of Espo and Ryan shouting Beckett's name. A scream, higher and more piercing than all the others attracted their attention. The 2 cops disappeared towards the back room. It wasn't the same. He knew it was her. But he heard something else underlying in the ear splitting noise. Weakness. Beckett was becoming weak. Castle remained speechless on the floor, his world blurring.


End file.
